blaisdell



.UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

VASCO M. BLAISDELL ANI) CHARLES A. WRIGHT, OF AGAWAM, MASS.

AUTOMATIC FEED-BOX FOR ANIMALS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 235,499, dated December 14, 1880.

Application tiled October 25, 1880. (No model.)

`To all whom 'it may concern:

Horses and Other Animals, of -which the following is a specication.

Our invention relates to the details of construction ot devices for connecting the hinged bottom of a feed-box with clock mechanism, the object being to reduce the complexity ot' such mechanism and provide such improved construction ofsaid hinged bottom and the operating mechanism interposed between it and the clock as renders it practicable to connect many feed-boxes with one single clock, whereby at a predetermined hour one or a `series of feed-boxes may be automatically emptied of their contents, letting the latter be dropped into the mangers of the animals.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figurel is an elevation of one complete feed-boxwith our improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of a series of feed-boxes constructed and united together according to our invention. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the bottom of one of the feedfboxes. In Fig. 1 a part ot' the clock-case is broken away to expose to view the' parts connecting the tripping mechanism with the clock-train. Fig. 4 is a view ot' parts of the tripping mechanism detached from the clock.

A is the feed-box, to which are hinged, upon horizontal rods c, the bottom flaps, d. Said rods are supported upon each side of the box in suitable bearings c, and strapsb, secured to said laps, are xed on said rods.

Two geared segments, B, are fixed one upon each of rods c, and they engage with each other, as shown. One ot' said. segments has an arm, i, thereon, notched to receive the end of a pivpted lever, o. A second lever, o', is pivoted upon the .side of box A, and said two levers are connected by a bar, o2, pivoted thereto. The said lever o is so pivoted tothe side of box A as to allow it to swing to a slight degree laterally from the face of said box.

A block, fv, is secured to the side of the box, behind lever o', near-its free end, and upon the face ot' said block is xedan inclined projection, s.

A counter-weight, h, is suspended, by a cord running over a roller near the top of the box, to one of segments B, as shown in Fig. l, by which the closing of the bottom of the box is greatly facilitated. The dotted lines in Fig. 1 show the position of the iiaps d when down.

An ordinary clock, D,'is secured to the side of box A in the position relative to the aforesaid levers. (Shown in Fig. l.) The said clock is one which is provided with an ordinary alarm device, and upon the rear end of the main winding-pivot n ot the alarm device is fixed a geared wheel, t. A rack-bar, fw, is tted behind the clock-movement, between the latter and the back of the clock case, and adapted to have the teeth thereon engage with those ot' said gear t. The lower end of said rack-bar is reduced in size, as shown, projects down through the bottom of the clock-case, and below the latter is bent to form an offset or species of hook, .1', and from the latter its end below is bent to an incline backward, as

shown in Figs. l and 4:.

The operation of the aforesaid feed-boxes with our improvements applied thereto is as follows: The bottom iaps ot the boxes are closed up against the bottom thereof, shutting the latter and bringing the segments B to the position seen in Fig. 1. When the bottom of the box has been so closed the armi on one of said segments is carried over the end of lever o, which projects beyond the end of the box, and said end of said lever drops into the notch in arm t', and thereby both segments are retained in the position seen in Fig. l. As said arm t" slides across the end of lever o said end is deflected, moving bar o2 and lever o',- but as soon as said end falls into said notch said levers, by gravitation, fall to the position shown.

The bottom of the box in this construction can be closed, as just described, whether the clock mechanism be wound up or not, the latching devices being always free to engage with the notch on arm t', as will be hereinafter more fully described.

After the feed has been put into the box or boxes the alarm mechanism is wound up and set to cause the latter to operate and open IOO the bottom flaps at a given hour. When the mechanism is so wound up the gear t on the back end of pivot n is turned, and causes the rack-bar fw to he carried downward, and in so moving its lower end slides back of the free end of lever o and continues its down movement until the said lever slides over and is caught upon the o'set 0r hook x on said bar, the lower end of the latter heilig a little ilexible, and the lever o being freely pivoted, it is made easy for said two parts to so adapt themselves one to the other tohook together. When the hour arrives at which the alarm mechanism operates the revolution of the pivot n in the opposite direction to that in which it was turned to wind it causes the rack-bar w to he drawn upward and lift up the end of lever o', and through the above-described bar and lever connections to swing the outer end of lever o down and out of the notch in arm i on one of the segments, thereby removing any obstacle to the dropping of the bottom flaps, d, and letting the feed drop into the manger under the box. As the end of lever o is lifted by the hook on bar 1v it encounters the inclined projection s on block 1*, and is pushed forward and otf from said hook, thereby disengaging said hook and lever one from the other, letting the lever drop, while the bar moves up against any convenient stop.

As shown in Fig. 2, a series of feed-boxes may be arranged in a line, end to end, over several feeding-places below, and all of the boxes be operated simultaneously by the clock and its tripping mechanism placed upon one of said series of boxes.

The above-described arrangement of a series of boxes is made practical and convenient by the manner of hanging the bottom aps on the rods c, as said rods may be run continuously from one box to another, thus e'ectually connecting the bottoms of the whole series to one actuating mechanism.

When smaller and narrower feed-boxes are required they may be made with bottoms in a single piece, in which case the bottom would be hung to one side of the box, the segments would be dispensed with, and in place of the one having an arm, e', thereon an ordinary bar may be fixed in its place on rod c, havingjust such a formed notched arm thereon as is shown on the segment.

What we claim as our invention is- In an automatic feed-box, the combination, with the bottom flaps, d d, ofthe feed-box hung on the rods c. ofthe segments B, one of which has the notched arm t' thereon, the levers o and o', bar o2, the inclined projection s, the rack-bar u, having the hook a' thereon, gear t, and the alarm mechanism of a clock, all substantiall y as set forth.

V. M. BLAISDELL. U. A. WRIGHT. Witnesses:

H. A. GHAPIN, J. D. GARFIELD. 

